Wednesday, AVIXA handed out its annual awards at Center Stage, InfoComm’s engaging presentation venue in the North Hall.
In addition to all the pomp and circumstance, Center Stage is a place for networking, education and presentations that AVIXA CEO David Labuskes, CTS, CAE, RCDD, said takes the quality and the “experience” quotient to a new level. All that is made possible by the presenters, programmers and sponsors led by ConnectWise, DolbyVoice, Lifesize, Mvix and Samsung.
Located at booth N1646, it’s a place, Labuskes said, to shake up your expectations and get new ideas. (And it’s all free.)
Wednesday’s schedule put concepts such as integrated life into perspective with a panel of senior people from Microsoft, Cisco and URC in conversation with Rachel Bradshaw, AVIXA’s director of program development.
Presentations on the future of AR and the future of stadium entertainment drove home the point that the future is all about interactive experiences. It’s not all technology: Center Stage sessions dealt with the ethics of voice assistance and the psychology of UI.
Thursday's sessions will offer a fascinating panel on testing and measuring the performance of digital signage, as well as a range of innovative topics that tie AV to process automation and building responsiveness. Among the must-sees: How Buildings of the Future Will Change in Response to Human Occupants. Additional sessions on AR/VR will consider the classroom and the stadium. A provocative session will ask the question: Can videoconferencing connect an entire community? It’s not all digital and it’s not all emerging technology—find out at the 3 p.m. session, Combining Live Music With Both Physical and Virtual New Media.
Wrapping up on Friday, Center Stage presentations will turn to topics that include hotels and hospitality, the secrets of using spatial audio to support remote collaboration and techniques to engage audiences in immersive experiences.
The Center Stage finale at 3:30 p.m., hosted by multimedia journalist Alesia Hendley, has some surprises in store as she dialogs with Will Curran, chief event Einstein at Endless Events, and they interactively demonstrate the power of video.
Events are on the half hour (with a break for lunch). Don’t miss them.
